Women's Hockey/Irish Senior Cup final: After losing in their last three Irish Senior Cup finals, all since 2000, Hermes finally lifted the curse at Belfield yesterday, beating Ballymoney 2-1 on penalty strokes after the Ulster side had fought back marvellously from 2-0 down to take the game in to extra-time.
Hermes, the All-Ireland champions, appeared to be cruising towards a comfortable victory when, 16 minutes in to the second half, Aoife Mitchell doubled the lead Molly Powers had given them after 21 minutes. Ballymoney, though, pulled a goal back just 80 seconds after Mitchell scored and, remarkably, levelled the game 45 seconds later.
Both goals were scored by Nikki McCaughern, the 22-year-old Irish international who only took up hockey in her mid-teens. While Jenny Burke, Caitriona Carey and Angela Platt were all candidates for the player-of-the-match award McCaughern, who was simply immense throughout, was the deserving winner. Nominally playing on the left side of midfield, she had the habit of popping up wherever she was most needed, in defence, midfield or attack.
But, despite their two-minute collapse, Hermes were deserving winners of the game, one they largely controlled through their vastly experienced midfield trio of Burke, Carey and Linda Caulfield. The short corner count - eight to one in Hermes' favour - was a fair indication of the balance of play, with Platt much the busier of the two goalkeepers.
Ballymoney, though, were entitled to feel aggrieved about the nature of Hermes' opening goal. From her team's third short corner of the game Powers, on the right post, deflected home Aisling Keane's shot - but the deflection was off her right shin pad, and not her stick. The 'goal' should have been disallowed, but Ballymoney's protests fell on deaf ears.
The second half began much as the first had finished, with Hermes the dominant force. Carey increasingly became an influence, as did Burke whose passing and slick through-balls kept Ballymoney on the back-foot. It was Powers who began the move that led to the second goal, finding Caulfield in midfield, her pass in to the path of Carey who centred from the right for Mitchell to touch home.
Game over? So it seemed, but the combination of McCaughern's guile and guts and Hermes pressing the self-destruct button led to an amazing turn-around that brought Ballymoney back in to the game. Lynsey McVicker pounced on sloppy defending on the right to steal the ball, playing it through to Bridget McKeever, whose pass was swept home by McCaughern from a narrow angle on the right.
Game on. Less than a minute later the teams were level, this time Jacqui McVicker intercepting a Carey pass deep in the Hermes half, the ball falling for McCaughern who burst through, rounded Aoife McCarthy, and fired under the advancing Tara Browne.
Ballymoney might even have stolen the game in the final minute but Browne expertly forced Kearney too wide when McCaughern had put her captain through, the chance lost.
Having taken 10 minutes or so to regain their composure Hermes then went about re-establishing their grip on the game, which they succeeded in doing in extra-time. Mitchell, pouncing on a scuffed hit-out by Martin, cut the ball across the face of goal but Sarah McGloughlin just failed to get a touch, while Caulfield and Burke (twice) were thwarted by Platt. With two minutes to go Powers almost got the winner but, once again, Platt was alert, blocking her shot on her left post.
And so to penalty strokes. Recent history favoured Ballymoney - they had won their only Irish Senior Cup, in 2001 against Pegasus, on strokes, while Hermes had lost the 2002 final in the same manner to Loreto. So much for recent history. By the time McCaughern stepped up to take Ballymoney's fifth stroke Hermes led 2-1, Caitriona Carey and Jen Lawson converting while only Lynsey McVicker put hers away for Ballymoney. Cruelly, not least because of the quality of her display all day, McCaughern put her stroke wide. Hermes, then, won their third Irish Senior Cup, but with an average age of 22 one suspects Ballymoney will be back for more.
BALLYMONEY: A Platt; J Black, Judith McVicker, S Martin, L Barr, A Kearney (capt), B McKeever, N McCaughern, Jacqui McVicker, L McVicker, E Lynch. Subs: C McAulay, L Burns. Coach: L Watkins.
HERMES: T Browne, J Hodgins, F Connery, A McCarthy, A Keane, C Carey, L Caulfield, J Burke (capt), C Devine, M Powers, S McGloughlin. Subs: A Mitchell, S Young. Coach: R Wortmann.
Umpires: J Beamish and P Errity.
